Politicising the humanitarian aid in Syria

Politicising the humanitarian aid in Syria
April 4, 2021, 2:00 pm

Zara saleh

During the Syria Donor conference, 6.4 billion dollars were raised for the humanitarian crisis after 10 years of the ongoing conflict in Syria. According to the United Nations recent report, nearly two-thirds of Syrian people- two in every three- are in need of humanitarian aid which means more than 14 million Syrian people in general, and millions of children are living below the poverty line as the UNICEF chief warned that. Syria

Simultaneously, the American Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned the UN Security Council and the 15-members called on those who do not politicise the humanitarian assistance that been pledged for Syrians and to "stop enabling the obstruction of aid". Blinken's message was directed to Assad's regime backer, China and Russia as both countries, again, are expected to vote against the UN Security Council resolution. Since 2014, the UN Security Council has adopted a resolution that allowed the United Nations organisations and agencies to deliver humanitarian support for Syrian people over four border crossings. Unfortunately, since January 2020 Moscow and Beijing voted, as usual, against the renewal of the UN resolution that allowed the use of four crossings border, two in Turkey, one in Iraq, and another in Jordan.

later on, the humanitarian aid to the Syrian people has been reduced dramatically due to Russia and China's veto that eliminates Al Yarubiyah crossing on the Iraqi border and Bab al-Salam on the Turkish border. As a result, the majority of the Syrian population is facing starvation as the cost of living has sharply risen and there is a lack of basic needs such as bread, water, sugar, electricity, and fuel.

Arguably, politicizing humanitarian assistance in Syria was a Russian strategy to cut the aid in the areas that are not under the Syrian regime's control. Such as the Kurdish-held autonomous northeast, and in Idlib north Syria. Moreover, Moscow argues that the delivery of humanitarian aid in such areas is 'violating' Syria's sovereignty, according to the Russian representative in the UN. That is why Russia since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, has repeatedly used its veto to block tens of the UN resolution with China's support, even to those related to humanitarian purposes for civilians.

Besides that, Turkey, which is Russia's ally through the Astana agreement, has also been involved in such processes during its occupation of Syrian territories. Turkish authorities, for instance, have been shut-off the Alok water pumping since the occupation of Serekaniye in 2019 by leaving millions of civilians without water in the Kurdish-controlled areas in northeast Syria. So later, Turkey declined dramatically the level of the Euphrates River that, eventually, has affected the daily life's of civilians, food security and agriculture, and in the future could have catastrophic consequences not only at a political level but at the humanitarian and environmental levels as well. Syria

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Zara Saleh